The present invention relates to an inflatable apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant in the event of a side impact to a vehicle and/or a vehicle rollover.
It is known to inflate an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device to help protect a vehicle occupant in the event of a vehicle collision. One particular type of inflatable vehicle occupant protection device is an inflatable curtain. The inflatable curtain inflates away from the roof of the vehicle downward inside the passenger compartment between a vehicle occupant and the side structure of the vehicle in the event of a side impact or rollover. A known inflatable curtain is inflated from a deflated condition by inflation fluid directed from an inflator to the inflatable curtain through a fill tube.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle that has a side structure and a roof. The apparatus includes an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device that is inflatable away from the vehicle roof into a position between the side structure of the vehicle and a vehicle occupant. The inflatable vehicle occupant protection device includes first and second overlying panels that are interconnected to define an inflatable volume. The first panel includes a first predetermined number of layers of material and the second panel includes a second predetermined number of layers of material, which is greater than the first predetermined number of layers.